The Miocene Arrow

Greatwinter #2

by Sean McMullen

In a fortieth-century America of ancient kingdoms with opulent courts, hereditary engineering guilds, and rigid class distinction in warfare, a centuries-old balance of power is shattered by a few dozen Australian infiltrators. Against a rich backdrop of war, chivalry, conspiracy, and a diesel-powered arms race, a dangerous secret alliance has formed. Now the unlikely trio of an airlord, an abbess, and a fugitive are joined together in a desperate race against time to stop the ultimate doomsday machine from being

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Steampunk, Science Fiction Fantasy, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic

608 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Dr. Sean McMullen, author of the acclaimed cyberpunk/steampunk Greatwinter Trilogy, is one of Australia's top Science Fiction and Fantasy authors.

Winning over a dozen awards (including multiple Analog Readers Awarda and a Hugo Award finalist), his work is a mixture of romance, invention and adventure, populated by strange and dynamic characters. The settings for Sean's work range from the Roman Empire, through Medieval Europe, to cities of the distant future. He is a musician, medievalist, star gazer, karate instructor, felineophile, and IT manager.

Reviews

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
After loving the first book, I jumped into the sequel as soon as I got my hands on the ebook. The first book had its issues but my fascination with this dark future world. This second book was disappointing. This book focuses on character relationships that aren't the most interesting aspects of the story.

[Iain Coggins]

I am stopping reading this book at 75% done. I don't like doing this, but I am increasingly feeling like I am wasting my time. Souls in the Great Machine had its weaknesses, but I enjoyed it from start to finish. The Miocene Arrow, however brings McMullen's weaknesses into greater light. The most frustrating thing about his prose is the lack of description. He has the greatest ideas, and has conceived a very original and compelling world, and yet does not present in the fullness it deserves. I am continually struggling to visualize the amazing things he proposes, but never fleshes out. I am a lover of minimalist prose, and detest overly descriptive, mire-like prose, but Sean, please, throw me a bone! McMullen's biggest problem seems to be his lack of familiarity with North America and the Rocky Mountain region (where I live). This unfamiliarity is in contrast to his descriptions of Australia (Australica) in Souls where he does a passable of job of presenting the landscape. Throughout Miocene I felt like Mounthaven was little more than a thin framework to hang his neo-Renaissance world upon.

I also struggle with his characterizations, although not nearly as much as other reviewers who rail against their one-dimensionality. This was a bit of nuisance in Souls, but in Miocene, it is a distraction that grows more glaring as the narrative wears on; the interplay between Serjon Feydamor and his cohorts is particularly weak.

I don't know if I'll go back and finish this book. I love the world, but I feel I am continually being cheated out of it by the storyteller himself. Since I have not finished the novel, I will not choose a star.

[Dmitri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely (read: never) use the word "romp" in reviews. But hot damn, I enjoyed the hell out of this book (second in the Calculor trilogy). Human-powered primitive computers! Arthurian-style chivalry but on diesel-powered fighter planes over the mountains of post-apocalyptic America! Espionage, comedy, and.. war crimes (the book gets fairly rough, at times, but I think still in a respectful manner).

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun. I read it when it first came out and wanted to reread it. I wished there was a little more character development with some of the characters. I found myself getting lost with who was who doing what when, but I enjoyed the goofy heraldic chivalry nonsense and the airplane shenanigans. Very fun.

[Matthew Reads Junk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. A pretty strong sequel to the previous book, although it could be read as a stand alone as well. It takes a while to get going and far too many characters are introduced in the early chapters. The ending is a bit rushed and slightly anti-climatic after the end of the "war'.
But if you enjoy post-apocalyptic Americana stories with a slight dash of steam punk, this book's for you.

[Patrick Brettell · Rating 4 out of 5]

BLUF: This is a fun book, and I'll definitely go back to (re-)read the predecessor (Souls in the Great Machine) and conclusion (Eyes of the Calculor) of the trilogy.

I read Souls in the Great Machine about 16 years ago and wanted to read it again before reading this but couldn't find a copy at a price I was willing to pay. I regret not putting more effort into finding a copy now as there were references that I thought I might have enjoyed more if I remembered the prior book better and also implications that I either didn't pick up on from the first book or have since forgotten. I will definitely re-read it before I conclude the trilogy. That said, I think you could enjoy this book without having read the first and, from the excerpt I've read, think the same is likely true of the third book.

The good:
1. McMullen has come up with a lot of unique (or new-to-me as of 2005 and still not seen elsewhere as of this writing in 2021) science fiction concepts integral to his story. Chief among them is the manner of the long-ago apocalypse-- well-developed, internally consistent, and (for readers of Souls in the Great Machine) given much more background in this entry. I've seen a few reviews complain that he has too many new concepts introduced; to me, they make the story great.

2. A satisfying conclusion that resolves all loose storylines but definitely not in a "well, history is ending now" manner.

The bad:
1. I'm generally not a fan of 3rd person omniscient and jumping between POVs from one paragraph to the next. It does largely work here as a mix of traditional story-telling and sort of a war history, but it keeps the reader from being immersed in any one character.

2. MINOR SPOILER: Late in the book, one of the characters-- heretofore a fairly nice person (but deadly pilot) somewhat skeptical of her society's hierarchical system-- demonstrates her love for another character she had previously spurned by . . . arranging the mutilation (directly at her hand) and slaughter (by supporting characters) of a group-- all but one of whom were innocent of any real wrong to her-- who had been her biggest boosters at the lowest time of her life. And her peers react with a shrugged, "Oh, man, she's crazy but whattya gonna do?" while those lower than her on the social hierarchy cringe and flee from her. It was a really bizarre turn of the character and didn't feel earned.

[Gary Reger · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the second book in the "Greatwinter Trilogy, the action in shifts from Australia, the setting of Souls in the Great Machine, to the site of the former United States, in particular the central West of Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming (with excursions to the Dakotas and Nebraska). Here the former, now largely forgotten US has fragmented into several independent polities which operate on a neo-mediaeval chivalric concept of conflict, which takes place between knights in flying machines. This society is disrupted by the intrusions of agents from Australia, "callwalkers" immune to the "call," a phenomenon by which people's agency is seized, making them walk west toward the ocean to drown. The plot largely revolves around a war provoked by them in which chivalric traditions are shattered, the aim being to obtain the flying machines used here to effect a take-over of Australia.

There's a lot packed into this book, too much, perhaps, to wholly cohere. The end in particular feels contrived, a kind of exhausted effort to tie up loose ends that have been dangling for many pages. The call, which was a clever invention in the earlier volume, seems rather just tagged on; it comes and goes, and sometimes it's important, but mostly it takes a back seat to the war and the love interests of the characters. In general it just creates opportunities for the callwalkers to wreak mischief.

Nevertheless, The Miocene Arrow is a good follow-up to Souls in the Great Machine, if perhaps not as inventive. (The human calculator in that book is a delightful invention.) I suspect the third volume, Eyes of the Calculator (which I haven't read), will resolve some of the remaining mysteries. (Notably the Miocene Arrow, which is never really explained here, despite the title.)

[Joseph Laughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many respects this was a fun book to read, especially as the mysteries in the plot unraveled and the reader learned more about the unique world. Definitely an underrated book (as I only know about it from a specific blog post on underrated sci fi), but also doesn’t quite achieve greatness. A few too many characters, some seem to get lost on the book, one or two that seem important but then their plot lines don’t amount to much. Pacing in some parts of the books also could have been better.

That said, the world building was top notch - an interesting mixup of medieval fantasy, steampunk, and sci fi rolled into one in a way that didn’t feel forced. The drama was also very good with tension and mystery in every chapter.

[Philip Chaston · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been many years since I started this trilogy. Remains one of the more imaginative post-apocalyptic scenarios: what you might call the Revenge of the Whales. Worldbuilding with satire character sketches,,,Austen with wings.

[Alex Ankarr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect, passionate, astonishingly beautiful. A completely immersive and detailed world to drown in.

[Ann Tonks · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author has clearly done an amazing amount of work to create this array of characters and this 40th century America - but after the first 100 pages I couldn't be bothered going any further. I just didn't care enough about any of the people he'd created to want to spend more time with them.

[Elyce]

I picked this at random from my bookshelf this morning, and I can tell you that I already don't like it - the characters are full of themselves, and there is no setup for this weird time period.

[Steve]

could not finish this book.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

More goodness from down under. Read in order

[Timothy Keable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful instalment of the Greatwinter trilogy.

Lots of characters, a labyrinthine plot and great concepts.

Loved it!